Journal box and bearing structure



June 19, 1934. P, w, D|ETER 1,963,547

JOURNAL BOX AND BEARING STRUCTURE Filed.Nov. 12, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Paul WDietew;

June 19, 1934. P. w. DIETER 1,963,547

JOURNAL BOX AND BEARING STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 12. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

gwuentov ,Pa/wl W1) iei'er,

Patented June 19, 1934 v I v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f 1,963,547 JOURNAL BOX AND BEARING STRUCTURE Paul W. Dieter, New York, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to P. W. Dieter, Inc., New York, N. Y.

Application November 12, 19 31, Serial No. 574,663 3'Claims. '(Cl. 30840) This invention relates to an improved journal ously is involved. Moreover, it is difficult in box and bearing structure for the axles of car. either case to provide a practical and emcient wheels and the like, and has particular refermeans to exclude dust and dirt from the space ence to an improved journal box and bearing between the inner end of the bearing element 5 structure of the type in which the bearing eleand the adjacent end of the wheel hub due to. co

ment for the axle journal is mounted for rotathe impracticability of extending 1 any part of tion within the journal box. the journal box appreciably inwardlyover the Abearing element in the form of a hollow cylwheel hub. Accordingly, the general object of inder which is mounted V for rotation within a the present invention is to provide for the drivjournal box, and which isadapted to be rotated ing or rotation of the bearing element by. the as during rotation of the axle which is journaled wheelhub -,in a simple, inexpensive manner not therein, is desirable from a number of viewrequiringmachining or reforming of the standpoints and is particularly advantageous in that ard-axle or the wheel as the provision of a special it possesses long life due to different portions bearing element of expensive design, and in such thereof constantly being brought to an effective manner as to permit the employment of a simple, 7O

loadsustaining position between the top of the practicable and eflioient means to exclude forjournal box and the top of the axle journal. eign matter'from the space between the inner However, as heretofore produced, journal boxes end of the bearing element and the adjacent; and bearing structures of this type have not been face of the bearing element driving part, as well entirely satisfactory principally because of the as to'permit the use of oil as distinguished from '10 labor and expense necessary to adapt them to more or less'heavy grease in the lubrication of standard axles. That is to say, in order to prothe structure. vide for rota in h rin l men d ring ro- With the foregoing. and other objects in view, tation of the axle, which purpose is not accomwhich will become more fully apparent as the plished by friction between the axle journal and nature of the invention is better understood, the the bear-ing, it is usual to provide for frictional same, consists in. the novel construction, andin' contact between the inner end of the bearing elethe novel combination and arrangement of feament and the adjacent face of the hub of the tures as will be hereinafter more fully described, wheel which is fixed on the axle so that as the illustrated in the accompanying drawings and.

axle and the wheel rotate this frictional engagedefined in the appended claims. 8o ment produces rotation of the bearing element. In the drawings, wherein like characters or However, since standard car axles usually are of reference denote corresponding parts in the difstepped design, i. e., provided betweenthe jourferent views:

, nal portion thereof and the portion thereof on Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a 5 which the wheel is mounted with a dust guard journal box and bearing structure according to so seating portion which is of greater diameter than one practical embodiment of the invention. the journal portion and of less diameter than Figure 2 is a fragmentary section similar to the portion on which the wheel is mounted, it Fig.1 illustrating a slight modification. has been found necessary heretofore either to Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

0 turn or to grind down the dust guard seating por- Figure 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating tion to the same diameter as the journal portion another slight modification of the invention. in order to permit the inner end of the bearing Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of element to extend to the wheel hub, or else to Fig. 4. provide at relatively great expensea bearing ele- Figures 6, '7 and 8 are detail views illustrating 45 ment with an inner end extension having a bore other alternative forms of the means for translarger than the journal receiving bore thereof mitting rotation of the wheel to the bearing eleto accommodate the dust guard seating portion ment. thus to permit the desired driving engagement Referring tothe drawings in detail and with of the wheel hub with the inner end of the bearparticular reference to the embodiment of the in- 50 ing element. Moreover, since the wheel hub usuvention illustrated in Fig. 1, .Av designates, genally is in the form of a more or less unfinished erally, the journal box, B the bearing element, C

casting, it also has been necessary heretofore theaxle, and Dthe wheel fastened tothe axle to machine the end face. thereof for cooperation inwardly of the journal box. 1

with the inner end of the bearing element. The journal box A, which may be of any'suit-' 55 Therefore, in either case material expense obviable construction, is inclusive essentially of a bore to receive the bearing B which is in the form of a sleeve rotatably mounted in said bore, the sleeve having numerous lubricant ducts 11 formed therethrough and the journal box being provided with any suitable means to supply lubricant to the outer face of said sleeve and through the ducts 11 to the inner face thereof, thereby to provide for free rotation of the sleeve within the journal box and for free rotation of the journal portion 12 of the axle within the sleeve.

Regarding the axle C, it will be observed that the same is of a well known standard design having in addition to the journal portion 12 thereof, a portion 13 of relatively large diameter'on which the wheel D is fixed, and, further having, between the portions 12 and 13, a portion-'14 ofrel'atively' short length which is of greater diameter than the journal portion 12 and of less diameter than the wheel mounting portion 13 and which is us'iially provided to constitute a seat for the dust guard of an ordinary journal box.

Because of the dust guard seating portion 14 of the-axle being of greater diameter than the journal'portion' 12 thereof the prior practice, as heretofore stated, has'been either to turn or to grinddown the portion 14 to the same diameter as thejournalportiond2 in orderto permit the u'se of a bearing element of economical structural design to extend at its inner end'into contact with the'wheel hub, or else to provide a bearing elemerit of "more expensive design to extend at its inner end'ov'er the portion 14into operative relation' to the wheel hub." As distinguished from either of the foregoing'e'xpedients, the present in vention provides for the use of a'bearing element of simple,inexpensivexiesign, avoids any necessityof machining the axle, 'and'atthe same time provides for the effectiveexclusion of foreign mat ter from the space between the adjacent e'nds of the bearing elementand the wheel 'hub and the retention of the *lubricant within the journal box in"a"si'mple, practicable and thoroughly efficient manner.

"According to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FigLl the bearing element B accommodates only the journal portion 12' of the axle and is'provided at its inner end with an outwardly directed flange 15 which seats against the inner end ofth'e journal box and is surrounded by an inwardly"directedflange'or extension 16 of the journal box which extendswell'inwar'dly beyond said flange '15. 'The inner face of the flange 15 thus is spaced from the adjacent end'face'of the hub 17 of the wheel D an amount approximately equal to the length of the portion 14 ofthe axle. Consequently, in order toprovide'for drivingth'e bearing element Bby the wheel hub 1'7, a collar 18"boredto fit the portion 14 of the axle'andbf a thickness or" width'approximating' the spacing of the'rlan'ge 15from"the adjacent face'of the wheelhubfis engaged over said axle portion 14 and fixed 'to the axle or'to thewheelhub in'any suitable-manner forrotation therewith. For example, the collar may be welded to the wheel hub asindicated at 19'. Thus it isobvious that as .the' axle rotates'within the bearing element '13 ro-" tation'pf 'the' wheel produces, through the collar 18, rotation of the bearing element due to frictidnal contact between the'adjacent faces of the flange 15 and the collar '18," this frictional en:

,gagement occuring whenever there is a slight relative inward-movement of the journal box'and the'axle; as frequently or substantially continu ously occurs while a car is 'inmotion'. It 'is apparent-therefore; that while the present arlr. n,

rangement provides for driving of the bearing element B by the axle or the Wheel mounted thereon, all necessity of machining the axle or the wheel hub or of providing a bearing element of special expensive design is avoided. Moreover, it is apparent that by reason of the contacting faces of the flange 15 and the collar 18 being spaced'from the adjacentend of the wheel hub, the flange 16 may be extended well inward over said contacting faces so as to efiectively exclude foreign matter therefrom.

"Tn connection with the exclusion of foreign matter from the contacting end faces of the bearing element flange'15 and the collar 18, it is apparent that if desired the collar 18 may be provideo. with a peripheral groove or grooves for the reception of a'split ring or rings for sealing cooperationwith the inner face of the flange 16, this being illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 wherein a groove in the collar 18 is designated as 20 and a split ring fitting said groove and sealing against the inner face'of the flange 16 is designatedas 21, the general" arrangement otherwise being the same 'as"illustrated'in Fig. When a ringo'r rings 21 is or are'used, not only is foreign matter effectively excluded from the adjacent races'br the flange 1'5 and the'c'o-llar 1 8,but lubricant obviously is prevented from escaping "from the'jou'r'nal box. Accordingly, the present arrangement prov es for the use of oil or liquid lubricant as dis' t1n' guished from grease in the lubrication oif'the structure;

' Figs. 4'and 5 of the drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention which is 'fundanfentally the same 'as' the embodiments of theinvention illustrated in Figsfl to "3' and indicate: that in case the'dust guard seating portion 14 of the axle is of material lengththe collar; designated as 18?; may be of reduced diameter'towards' it s oute rien'd. These'fig'uresof the drawings also illustrate that thebearing'ele'ment may be formed in two '60} operating half section's designated'as 'bflj, to facilitate their assembly With'the journal box an d the axle; especially'in'instances where'the fri jht end of the journal box is closed and the front end of "the axle'journal is flangedthejournal box under these conditions preferably havinga' drop' eters and that any one ormore of the samemay beprovidedwith one or more sealing rings, "They also indicate that it is not essential to fasten the collar, whetherit is composed of onlya single eleme'nt or'a plurality of eiements, either to the wheel or the axle. Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages'of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled'in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form'fp'roportionand minor details of con'struc tion may be resorted to, withoutdeparting' from the spirit of the'inv'ention and sco'p'eof'the'ap pended claims. V p

"I claimt'" l. Astructure of the character described comprising a journal box, a bearing rotatably mountwheel fixed to the axle inwardly of the journal box, a collar fixed with reference to the axle and arranged between the hub of the wheel and the inner end of the bearing, said collar being operable by frictional contact to transmit rotation of the wheel to the bearing, and an inwardly directed flange extension of the journal box overlying the inner end of the bearing and the adjacent portion of the collar.

2. A structure of the character described comprising a journal box, a bearingrotatably mounted therein, an axle journaled in said bearing, a wheel fixed to the axle inwardly of the journal box, a collar fixed with reference to the axle and arranged between the hub of the wheel and the inner end of the bearing, said collar being operable by frictional contact to transmit rotation of the Wheel to the bearing, an inwardly directed flange extension of the journal box overlying at least a portion of the collar, and sealing means between said flange and said collar.

3. A structure of the character described comprising a. journal box, a bearing rotatably mounted therein, an axle journaled in said bearing, a wheel fixed to the axle inwardly of the journal box, a collar fixed with reference to the axle and arranged between the hub of the wheel and the inner end of the bearing, said collar being operable by frictional contact to transmit rotation of the wheel to the bearing, an inwardly directed flange extension of the journal box overlying at least a portion of the collar, the collar having a peripheral groove, and a sealing ring disposed in said groove and sealing against the inner face of said flange.

PAUL W. DIE'I'ER. 

